Palestinians
don't want a divided Jerusalem, just a share in its
governance.

By FAISAL
HUSSEINI, JERUSALEM

No city in the world evokes as much passion
and controversy as Jerusalem. And for good reason:
Jerusalem is spiritually important to three great
religions--Judaism, Christianity and Islam. And it is
politically important to two peoples--Palestinian and
Israeli.

If we are to reach a peaceful resolution to the
Jerusalem quandary, it only will be through devising a
way to ensure that all five of these constituencies have
a role in the administration of Jerusalem and its holy
sites. No single group should be able to claim either
religious or political exclusivity in Jerusalem.

One of the many myths that have flourished since 1967 is
that Israel wants to keep Jerusalem unified while the
Palestinians wish to redivide it. Nothing could be
further from the truth. Neither I nor others want to see
Jerusalem as a divided city. The real question is
whether a unified Jerusalem will be under the exclusive
control of Israel or under shared control.

Palestinians believe that Jerusalem should be a shared,
open city; two capitals for two states. In our vision,
East Jerusalem, as defined by the 1948-1967 borders,
would be under Palestinian sovereignty, while West
Jerusalem would be under Israeli sovereignty. Two
discrete municipalities, one Palestinian and one
Israeli, would fulfill the needs of both sides, while an
umbrella authority would deal with common issues such as
the environment and citywide services. But the city
would have no internal or physical borders and would
have open access for all people, no matter their
citizenship.

To a large degree, this arrangement would simply be
recognition of reality: For the past 33 years, Israelis
have treated East Jerusalem as a separate entity. The
Israeli government has channeled only minimal resources
to the Palestinians of East Jerusalem and has denied its
majority Palestinian population many basic rights. These
Palestinians, many of whose families have lived in
Jerusalem for centuries, have had no voice in their
city's administration and have faced severe impediments
imposed by Israel in housing, land use and economic
development. This is the Israeli version of
"unified" Jerusalem.

Under our plan, all of the city's residents, not just
Jewish Israelis, would have a say in how Jerusalem is
run. Moreover, the rights of both Palestinians and
Israelis should be equal: If Israelis are to live in
East Jerusalem, then Palestinians should be allowed to
live in West Jerusalem.

Creating shared administrative arrangements is
especially important in the Old City of Jerusalem, as
this concentrated area evokes the most passion among
Jews, Christians and Muslims. Many residents of the Old
City are Palestinian. Yet for the past 33 years, all
decisions about land use, housing and development have
been made by Israelis. Palestinian Christians and
Muslims have had no say and have suffered as a result.

For example, soon after Israeli forces captured
Jerusalem in 1967, Israel greatly expanded the Old
City's Jewish Quarter and ruled that Palestinians could
not purchase houses there, even though extremist Jewish
groups--often with Israeli government
encouragement--have seized properties in the Old City's
Christian and Muslim quarters. And since 1993, Israel
has imposed a military closure that systematically
prevents Palestinian Christians and Muslims from
entering Jerusalem.

In our vision of Jerusalem, such actions could not occur
because administration of the Old City would be shared
and followers of all three religions would enjoy
unimpeded access to their holy sites.

As Jerusalem is the spiritual center for all three
monotheistic religions, no one should have a monopoly
over the Old City, and no one should act there
unilaterally. Israelis say they want to keep Jerusalem
unified and not divided. What they really mean is that
they want to maintain 100% control over Jerusalem.

Palestinians want a Jerusalem that is shared, not
divided. Ours is the only realistic alternative for a
city that is so important to so many people. There is no
reason why Jerusalem cannot become the symbol of
reconciliation in the Middle East instead of continuing
to be an obstacle to peace.